That much discussed trade between the UK and EU

In the run up to the Commons debate on national referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU, many talking heads kept referring to the UK’s trade with other EU member states.

Time and again on various news programmes we heard pro-EU advocates proclaim than anywhere between 40-50% of the UK’s trade is with the EU and therefore leaving the EU would be devastating to our economy. Setting aside the flaws in the inherent suggestion that leaving the political structures of the EU would automatically mean we would lose our ability to trade with remaining EU member states, very little focus was directed at who holds the relative power in UK-EU trade.

A written answer in the House of Commons yesterday goes some way to explaining why so little attention was given to the question of who would come off worst from a trade dispute between the UK and EU. For it was confirmed that the EU continues to do better out of trade with the UK than the UK does. In fact the Balance of Trade deficit the UK has with the EU has widened:

Mr Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the size of the UK trade deficit with the EU was in each of the last five years.

Mr Davey: As published by the Office of National Statistics, the balance of trade between the United Kingdom and the European Union over the last years were as follows:

UK’s balance of trade in goods and services with the EU

£ million

2006

-29,616

2007

-35,235

2008

-28,582

2009

-27,421

2010

-35,534

While a number of commentators were quick to mention that Honda cars are made in Swindon and Nissan cars are made in Sunderland to take advantage of the UK’s ability to trade within the EU customs union, even with these manufacturing activities we still buy far more from the EU member states than they buy from us. If both car makers moved to the continent it would only increase our balance of trade deficit with the EU and actually make us an even more valuable trading partner.

The figures make clear there is a vested interest in EU member states maintaining strong trade links with the UK, irrespective of whether the UK is self governing or ruled from Brussels. To cite a loss of trade as a rationale for staying firmly inside the EU, and subverting the right of the British people to decide how this country is governed and by whom, is simply dishonest.

I’ve yet to hear anyone in the mainstream challenge this blatant lie about trade figures. It’s something repeated endlessly until the man in the street takes it as gospel.

As well as “The Rotterdam Effect” on export figures there’s also “The Dublin Effect” which skews our import figures in that goods destined for Ireland are routed via UK Ports and therefore added to our tally. (Dublin doesn’t yet have a harbour large enough to accommodate gigantic container ships).

Time and time again, we are being deliberately deceived.
Goodnight Vienna

The Rotterdam/Antwerp effect has its equivalent with goods sent from here to the US as a transit point. Many EUphiles cite this as skewing Eurosceptic figures, so it is better to focus on the balance of trade.

The Europhiles mantra is trade. Nick states trade is jobs. It is obvious to anyone with half a brain that the balance of payments is strongly in Europe’s favour. If a restriction was placed on our exports to the EU, a British government would reciprocate in a similar way. (looking at the present pusillanimous government perhaps not.) The trade argument does not stand up. Leaves the Europhiles with few fig leaves, like no 3rd World War. So what did the UK get for its £28,000,000 sterling today.

Note that different ways of counting, assessing and revising the data may change the figures.

This shows that total UK exports of goods and services is 28%, of which the EU accounts for slightly less than half at 13.7% of GDP. Note this is not “half our trade” as the europhiles claim but half our exports. This will in any case be reduced by the Rotterdam and Antwerp effects. By far the greatest trade is internally, with ourselves, at 72% of GDP.

And another piece of propagandistic bullshit minced around by Europhiles and Europlastics alike – and denied by one of the alleged academic authorities behind it no less, ladies and gentlemen I give you the truth of the “3 million jobs” claim:

“Less than ten per cent of the British economy is involved in exporting to the EU yet EU regulation is imposed on the more than ninety per cent
of the economy which is NOT involved in exporting to the EU”

I wouldn’t mind being part of EFTA. Then all the companies that want to trade into the EUSSR, could do so, while companies that wanted to trade solely into the UK or rest of the world, could happily ignore all of the bullshit the EU pushes.